The Revelation of God's Righteousness Where There Is No Church

Missions Week

And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am
convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all
knowledge and able also to admonish one another. 15 But I have
written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you
again, because of the grace that was given me from God, 16 to be a
minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest
the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become
acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore in Christ
Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.
18 For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ
has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the
Gentiles by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in
the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as
far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 And
thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already
named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation; 21
but as it is written, "THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND
THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND." 22 For this reason I
have often been prevented from coming to you; 23 but now, with no
further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for
many years a longing to come to you 24 whenever I go to Spain - for
I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by
you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a
while.

Five W's for the Missionaries and the "Rope-holders"

Romans 15 is probably the most missions-rich chapter of the New
Testament. Dozens of points could be made about the foundation and
goal and method of world evangelization. From all of these, I have
selected five observations from this text for this morning's
message. My aim is to build in our church - especially with all its
new people - a common vision of world missions. Why is world
missions so crucial in the ministry of this church? What do we mean
by it? How do we go about it? What is your place in it? In all this
vision building, I pray that God will use this message to awaken in
hundreds of you an irresistible desire to take the gospel of Christ
to some unreached people group, and in the rest of you awaken an
irresistible desire to be utterly committed rope-holders for those
who go, as William Carey called Andrew Fuller, who stayed behind
when Carey went to India for a lifetime and never came back.

So here are my five observations that build the vision of world
missions at Bethlehem. They all have a key word that starts with
"W" to help you remember them, as you quiz each other over lunch
today.

1. The WORD of God Is the Foundation of World Missions

Consider Romans 15:15: "But I have written very boldly to you on
some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that
was given me from God." To see the force of this in relation to
world missions you need to have the rest of the chapter in view.
For example, look at verses 23-24: "But now, with no further place
for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a
longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain - for I hope to see
you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I
have first enjoyed your company for a while." Paul had never been
to Rome. But he wanted "to be helped on [his] way [to Spain] by
[them]." So he writes this letter to them. That is what he is
referring to in verse 15: "I have written very boldly to you on
some points." Whatever else the book of Romans is, it is definitely
a missionary support letter. It's the foundation of his mission to
Spain.

It's as if someone wanted Bethlehem's support in a mission to a
people group in India, and we had never met this person face to
face. To prepare us for a visit and an interview with the Missions
Committee, the missionary writes a letter. That is what we have
here in Romans: it is Paul's gospel; his message; his theology; his
doctrine. This is what he writes to them when he wants their help
in doing world missions. When he wants their support in taking the
gospel of Christ to the totally unreached land of Spain, Paul
writes the letter to the Romans. This is the foundation of world
missions.

Now that is tremendously important. Think on it for a moment. We
have worked our way through four chapters of Romans in the past
couple years. What we are seeing is that this book is rich with
weighty doctrine. Paul explains and defends his doctrine of
justification by faith apart from works in amazing detail and
length. The book is profoundly theological before it gets
practical, so that when it does get practical, the result will be
profound spiritual counsel not just moralistic advice or
psychological tips.

But now ask yourself this: When world missions is treated today,
is this the way it is usually done? How many times do missionaries
present their case by stating their doctrine of justification by
faith? Or any doctrine for that matter? Or any clear, sharp,
glorious vision of God?

So here is the first point. Let us be a church that builds our
missionary vision on the Word of God. And by that I mean the truths
about God and his way of salvation and his way of life revealed in
the Bible. I mean doctrine. Not the less central ones but the
really crucial, central doctrines of the Bible. When we choose and
send missionaries, let us send those who can preach and teach the
truth about God with an understanding of central Biblical
doctrines. Paul built his life and missions on these great truths.
So should we. This is why we have TBI - The Bethlehem Institute for
Bible, Theology, and Missions. Bible, theology, and missions - in
that order. So the first observation, based on verse 15, is: The
Word of God is the foundation of world missions. Paul made doctrine
the foundation for his support. We should too.

2. World Missions Is God's WORK

What I mean by this is not that he does it instead of us, but he
does it through us. But he really does it. Missions is really
supernatural work. It is really God's doing, God's work in and
through us.

I see this in four phrases in verses 15-19. First, notice the
word "grace" in verse 15, "But I have written very boldly to you on
some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that
was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the
Gentiles (=nations, see verse 11). God called Paul and equipped
Paul and sent Paul by grace. So Paul's being a missionary is a work
of God.

Second, as Paul does his missionary work of gathering the
nations for God and preparing to present them like a priest to God
(as verse 16 says), who is it that really fits them for God? Verse
16b: ". . . ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my
offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the
Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit is the one who makes the Gentiles a
morally acceptable offering to God - makes them holy. Paul, the
missionary, does not do that, God, the Spirit, does.

Third, in verse 18 Paul says, "I will not presume to speak of
anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting
in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed." How do the
nations come to forsake idols and sin, and become obedient to God?
Answer: Jesus Christ does it through the missionary. Not without
the missionary, but through the missionary. It is Christ who does
the decisive work of conversion and transformation, not the
missionary. The missionary's job is to be faithful and true to the
Word of God and to lay his life down to show Christ to the nations.
But Christ himself is the one who does the decisive work.

Fourth, in verse 19, Paul goes on to say that his ministry
proceeded "in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the
Spirit." So here again it is not Paul, but the Spirit that exerts
the decisive power in the work of missions.

So my second observation is that missions is not mainly a human
enterprise but a divine one. It is God's work based on God's Word.
We speak and we do. But in and through us God's speaks and God
does, or all is in vain. We rely on him. Our job is to obey and be
faithful and trust him. Just as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7,
"I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So
then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but God who causes the growth." (See also 1 Corinthians 15:10;
Colossians 1:29.)

3. The Aim of World Missions Is the WORSHIP of God

The reason the universe exists is that creatures might have the
joy of worshipping God. Therefore, missions exists where worship
doesn't. Missionaries are seeking to awaken worship for the true
and living God through his Son Jesus Christ. Where in the text do I
see this?

Consider how Paul describes his missionary service in verse 16.
He says it is like a priest preparing an offering for God. Grace
"was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the
Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my
offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the
Holy Spirit." So the aim of missions is to be like priests of God
who prepare an offering acceptable to God among the peoples of the
world. What does that mean? How are the Gentiles an offering to
God?

Romans 12:1 explains, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the
mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,
acceptable
to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." The
Gentiles are an acceptable offering to God when their lives are an
act of worship to God.

But we don't have to leave this chapter to see that. Back up
with me to verse 9. Here Paul says that the aim of Christ's coming
into the world (as the model foreign missionary) was "for the
Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy." That is the aim of missions
- that the nations would glorify God for his mercy. That is worship
- showing God to be glorious in his mercy, by trusting in it and
cherishing it above all things. Then Paul supports this claim with
a string of Old Testament quotations in verses 9b-11, "As it is
written, 'Therefore I will give praise to You among the gentiles,
and I will sing to Your name.' Again he says, 'Rejoice, O gentiles,
with his people.' And again, 'Praise the Lord all you gentiles, and
let all the peoples praise Him.'"

So you can see how Paul thought about his mission. It was a
fulfillment of Old Testament expectations that the Gentiles - the
nations - would praise the Lord by rejoicing in him above all other
joys. That is the goal of missions: the worship of God - or as we
like to say: "the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all
peoples."

4. The WAY to Do World Missions Is to Go to Unreached
Peoples

One of the children asked me last year, "Is "peoples" a word?"
There it is in our mission statement: "for the joy of all peoples."
Yes, it is a word. Look at verse 11 again: "And again, 'Praise the
Lord all you gentiles, and let all the peoples praise Him.'" The
Maninka are a people. The Kazaks are a people. The Uzbeks are a
people. The Somali are a people. The Fula and Wolof and Hausa and
Kabyle and Farsi and Tajik and Turk are peoples. There are
thousands of peoples in the world with significant distinctions in
culture and language that have to be crossed if they are to be
reached with the gospel.

Now this fourth point is that the way to do world missions is
not to settle down with the peoples that already have churches
(even if they are across the ocean), but to keep going to the
unreached peoples until all the peoples are reached and have their
own Christ-worshipping churches.

Paul makes this point in a stunning way in verses 19-23. He says
that he has fulfilled the gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum (from
Israel up through Asia Minor and Greece to northern Italy) and has
no more room for work in this region. Look at verse 19b: "So that
from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully
preached the gospel of Christ. And thus I aspired to preach the
gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not
build on another man's foundation. . . . But now, with no further
place for me in these regions. . ." he is now heading for
Spain.

Notice three things in these verses: 1) Paul says he has fully
preached (literally: "fulfilled") the gospel from Jerusalem to
Illyricum; 2) he aims not to build on anyone else's work, but to be
a pioneer and go where Christ is not named; 3) therefore he has no
room here. How could he say the gospel is fulfilled in a region
where there are tens of thousands of unconverted people? Answer:
The task of frontier missions was done, not the task of evangelism.
What this all means for us is that there must always be
missionaries like Paul if we are going to finish the Great
Commission, which is not just to reach more and more people, but
more and more peoples - people groups - until they all have
churches and can evangelize their own people. We call this frontier
missions. This must always be a high priority for our missions
vision at Bethlehem. Other kinds of missionary work are good, but
this kind is utterly essential, because the cause of world
evangelization will not be completed without it.

Reaching unreached peoples, not just unreached people, is the
key to finishing the Great Commission. What a difference an "s" can
make!

5. God Calls Some to Be WARDENS of the Mission, Who Watch Over
It from Home

"Wardens" is my "W" word for "senders." Consider verse 24. Paul
says he aims to go to Spain, which is wholly unreached as far as we
know, "for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way
there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a
while."

This is important because of what he does not say and what he
does say. He does not say: "Everyone in Rome who is obedient to the
Great Commission will go with me to Spain, or will go to some other
unreached place or people group." What he does say is: "My hope is
that you will refresh me and then help me in my mission to Spain."
In other words, he calls the church in Rome to be senders, wardens
of the mission. He wants them to be partners in his mission,
supporters.

So we like to say that you have three possibilities in world
missions. You can be a goer, a sender, or disobedient. The Bible
does not assume that everyone goes. But it does assume that the
ones who do not go care about goers and support goers and pray for
goers and hold the rope of the goers. Paul was linked with many
churches and they sent support to him over and over again. So it
should be with Bethlehem and all our missionaries.

Summary

In sum,

1. The Word of God is the foundation of world missions. We want
to send missionaries who can explain to people who God is and how
he works and what the path to heaven looks like.

2. World missions is God's work. We teach and preach and love,
but God gives repentance and sanctification.

3. The aim of world missions is the worship of God. "Praise the
Lord all you gentiles, let all the peoples praise him" (Romans
15:11).

4. The way to do world missions is to go to unreached peoples.
Evangelism among a reached people is not frontier missions. Taking
the gospel to peoples where the name of Christ is not named is
frontier missions.

5. God calls some to be wardens of the mission, who watch over
it from home. You can be a goer, a sender, or disobedient.

What is your aspiration? God wants you to have one - a holy
ambition, a passion for the meaning of your life. He wants to
ignite it in you through his Word. That is what we see in verses
20-21. Paul had a holy ambition: "I aspired to preach the gospel,
not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on
another man's foundation." What sustained this sense of calling and
ambition? The Word of God. In the next verse (22) Paul quotes
Isaiah 52:15, "As it is written, 'They who had no news of Him shall
see, and they who have not heard shall understand.'"

This is how it will be with many of you. You have heard the Word
of God this morning and it has wakened or confirmed a longing from
God. Fan it. Read The Church is Bigger Than You Think by Patrick
Johnstone. Pray earnestly for God's confirmation and help. Get
connected with Bethlehem's nurture program or some support group
that will stoke your mission embers. Go where you can go. Trust his
promises.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

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